Question of the Day

Did illegal voters swing any congressional races?

Ex-FBI agent convicted in racketeering trialBOSTON A former FBI agent who spent years cultivating mob informants was convicted yesterday of protecting gangsters and warning three of them about indictment.John J. Connolly Jr., 61, showed no emotion as he was found guilty of racketeering and lying to the FBI. He was acquitted of obstruction of justice.He could get as many as 45 years in prison at his sentencing Aug. 7, but guidelines call for much less time. Connolly was released on $200,000 bail.The charges that FBI agents in Boston had become too chummy with mobsters were a major embarrassment for the bureau and prompted changes in how informants are handled.

Williams to succeed Brokaw as anchorNEW YORK Tom Brokaw, an institution in U.S. broadcast news for nearly 20 years, will retire as anchor of "NBC Nightly News" after the U.S. presidential election in 2004, NBC said yesterday.The 62-year-old anchor will be replaced by MSNBC's Brian Williams, who has often been Mr. Brokaw's substitute and has long been expected to assume the job.Mr. Brokaw, who has been the sole anchor of the program since 1983, will continue in that role through the election and afterward will contribute to the news program.

Data suggest ice under surface of MarsMars may have vast deposits of frozen water just beneath its dusty red surface, boosting the possibility of life on the Red Planet and perhaps providing a source for drinking water and rocket fuel for future exploration, researchers report.In three studies appearing this week in the journal Science, researchers say remote-sensing data from the Mars Odyssey spacecraft suggest that large deposits of ice are buried 1 to 2 feet below the planet's surface.Instruments aboard the spacecraft that measure the flux of gamma rays and neutrons detected a strong signature for the presence of hydrogen, a sign for dense deposits of ice.

Brother stands by Skakel in murder trialNORWALK, Conn. The brother of the man accused of killing his teen-age neighbor in 1975 testified yesterday that the two young men were visiting a cousin around the time of the slaying.The testimony from John Skakel, 43, matched a statement he gave to police in 1975 that his younger brother, Michael, was among the family members who traveled to another part of Greenwich on Oct. 30, 1975.The defense rested its case yesterday in what is likely to be the final week of testimony in Michael Skakel's murder trial.

California rejects Indian mascot banSACRAMENTO, Calif. California's State Assembly rejected a measure yesterday that would have banned state schools from having mascot names that have become the target of American Indian activists, such as Redskins, Apaches and Comanches.The assembly voted 35-29 against the bill, which drew nationwide attention as the latest fracas in the long-running battle over team mascots and political correctness.The bill's author, Democratic Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, said she might amend the bill to make it more palatable and could resubmit it before the end of the week.